High Martial Arts: Enlightenment after Practices

Chapter 397: Chapter 397: Rest

Xu Wuyi’s gaze hardened.

He didn’t meet them head-on. Instead, with a quick shift of his feet, his body abruptly accelerated, slipping through the gap between the two.

In the instant he passed them, his longspear swept back.

PSH! PSH!

Two heads flew into the air, and blood gushed forth.

Xu Wuyi didn’t pause. He kicked the metal door. A burst of Dark Gold Qi and Blood erupted, causing the heavy metal door to cave inward as the lock shattered.

Behind the door was a spacious stone chamber.

Glowing Crystal Stones were embedded in the walls. In the center stood a stone table, upon which were scattered beast-skin maps and a few bone slips.

Several metal chests were stacked in a corner of the chamber, likely containing some data from the Celestial Wolf Civilization.

This was the control room, but it was cruder than he had imagined.

Xu Wuyi’s gaze swept the room before landing on the western wall. An dark-red crystal panel was embedded there, its surface covered in runes, currently emitting faint Energy fluctuations.

’The central rune panel.’

He walked to the crystal panel, raised his longspear, and aimed the tip at the panel’s center.

The Dark Gold Flame condensed on the spear tip, compressing until it became a single point of incandescent white light.

A thrust.

The spear tip pierced the crystal panel as if it were a hot knife through butter. The panel’s surface was instantly covered in a spiderweb of cracks. The runes within fell into disarray, and the Energy flow went out of control.

BOOM!

The crystal panel exploded, sending shards flying everywhere.

At that moment, the entire fortress trembled violently. The glowing Crystal Stones on the walls extinguished simultaneously, plunging the corridors into darkness.

Only the beast-skin map on the central stone table caught fire in the Energy Shock, burning to ash.

The fortress’s defense systems were completely paralyzed.

"Done." Xu Wuyi retracted his longspear and rushed out of the control room.

The corridors had descended into chaos.

Having lost central control, the fortress’s lighting, ventilation, and even some of the structural-stability runes began to fail. The Werewolf Warriors were in a panic; some tried to break out, while others blindly searched for the enemy.

Xu Wuyi didn’t linger for a fight.

He followed the escape route Lin Jue had sent, quickly passing through several corridors until he reached a small door on the fortress’s eastern side.

This was the entrance Chen Yuan and Lin Jue had used to sneak in. The camouflage outside the door had been removed, revealing an opening large enough for one person to pass through.

Hong Nianyi, Chen Yuan, Lin Jue, and You Sicheng were already waiting there.

Seeing Xu Wuyi return safely, Hong Nianyi nodded without asking any questions.

"Let’s go."

The five of them crawled out of the opening one by one, returning to the desolate hills outside the fortress.

The sky was still a dark red, but a sliver of grayish-white had appeared on the distant horizon. The third night on Celestial Wolf Four was coming to an end.

A final commotion could be heard from the direction of the fortress, but it no longer posed a threat to them.

"To the cave from before," Hong Nianyi decided. "We’ll rest for two days, then clear out the remaining mining areas."

No one objected.

The five of them supported each other and disappeared into the pre-dawn darkness.

「Two days passed in the blink of an eye.」

Inside the cave, Lin Jue’s potions had taken effect.

The poison-fire on Chen Yuan’s shoulder was drawn out, and the wound began to heal. Although his combat strength hadn’t fully recovered, he could move normally.

You Sicheng’s internal injuries were the most severe. That one attack had exhausted his remaining Qi and Blood. In two days, he could only barely stabilize his condition; it would take at least several months of recuperation to recover his combat strength.

Hong Nianyi’s damaged meridians were also slowly recovering, but she didn’t remain idle. She was constantly reviewing her battle with the High Priest, analyzing her successes and failures.

Xu Wuyi was the most lightly injured.

His injuries were mainly from the backlash of his Qi and Blood and from overexertion. Under the effects of the *Hundred Refinements Melting Furnace*, he had already recovered for the most part in two days.

At this moment, he was sitting at the mouth of the cave, gazing at the dark red sky outside.

"What are you thinking about?" Hong Nianyi’s voice came from behind him.

She walked over and sat down beside Xu Wuyi, holding a piece of dry ration that she chewed on slowly.

"About Grandmaster Yue, and Teacher Han," Xu Wuyi said honestly. "Do you think they can see what we’re doing now?"

Hong Nianyi was silent for a few seconds.

"Maybe they can, maybe they can’t." She looked into the distance. "But what’s important is that we did."

Xu Wuyi nodded.

’Yeah, we did.’

Not waiting, not running away, but using the weapons in our hands to demand a measure of justice.

Even if that justice is insignificant, even if it cannot bring the dead back to life.

But this is the only thing they can do.

"We move out tomorrow." Hong Nianyi finished the last bite of her dry ration and stood up. "We clear the remaining three mining areas, then we evacuate."

「On the morning of the third day, the five of them left the cave.」

Their first target was Mining Area Three.

According to their plan, news of the base’s destruction should have spread by now, meaning the guards at the mining areas would have likely fled or been weakened.

The actual situation was even better than they had anticipated.

When the five of them arrived at the perimeter of Mining Area Three, they were met with a scene of utter disarray.

The mining equipment had stopped, the conveyor belts were broken, and the rough sorting platform was deserted. Raw ore that had been piled up like small mountains was scattered everywhere, but most of it had already been transported away, leaving only scraps behind.

The guarding Werewolf Warriors were nowhere to be seen. Only a few dozen Low-level Werewolf slaves were huddled in their hovels, their eyes vacant and numb.

"Looks like news travels fast," Chen Yuan said in a low voice. "They withdrew their combat forces and valuable ore overnight."

Hong Nianyi wasn’t surprised. "The Celestial Wolf Civilization may be crude, but they aren’t stupid. With their Priest dead and the base destroyed, they know they can’t hold this place, so they’d naturally prioritize transferring their resources."

"What about these slaves, then?" Lin Jue asked, looking toward the hovels.

Those Low-level Werewolves were mostly skin and bones, their bodies covered in whip marks. They were a vassal race conquered by the Celestial Wolf Civilization, enslaved for generations, and had long since lost the will to resist.

Hong Nianyi was silent for a moment.

"We ignore them," she said calmly. "Our mission is to destroy resources, not liberate slaves. Their fate is for them to decide."

The five of them entered the mining area.

With no guards, their operation became much easier. Lin Jue took the remaining Corrosive Energy Solvent from his suitcase and planted it on the remaining ore piles and at key nodes of the equipment.

Xu Wuyi and Chen Yuan stood guard while Hong Nianyi and You Sicheng patrolled the perimeter of the mining area to make sure there were no ambushes.

Half an hour later, Lin Jue pressed the detonator.

A dark green mist spread out once again, contaminating the last batch of ore. Secondary explosive devices ignited the mining equipment and the rough sorting platform. Flames shot up, and thick smoke billowed into the sky.

"Withdraw."

The five of them left quickly, heading for Mining Area Four.

The situation at Mining Area Four was similar to Area Three.

The guards had already evacuated and the equipment was shut down, but the piles of raw ore were larger than at Area Three. They clearly hadn’t finished the transfer.

Lin Jue once again planted the solvent and bombs, turning the mining area into a sea of fire.

Mining Area Five was the last one.

As the five of them arrived, something unexpected happened.

There were still Werewolf guards in the mining area.

Not War Generals, just a dozen or so ordinary warriors, led by a Werewolf captain who looked very old.

They seemed to be sacrificial pawns who had been abandoned, their eyes filled with desperation and madness.

Upon seeing the five of them appear, the old Werewolf captain threw his head back and let out a long, mournful howl. Then, raising the rusty War Axe in his hands, he was the first to charge.